NOAA reviews new management measues aimed at allowing young scallops to mature

Tuesday

Feb 12, 2013 at 12:01 AMFeb 12, 2013 at 7:27 PM

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration plans to reduce quotas to give younger scallops a chance to mature and ensure that stocks remain stable in the future, NOAA officials said.

MATT CAMARA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration plans to reduce quotas to give younger scallops a chance to mature and ensure that stocks remain stable in the future, NOAA officials said.

The move — which reduces quotas by a third — is something local fishermen are on board with, although they hope the cuts prove to be only a temporary thorn in their side, said Jim Kendall of New Bedford Seafood Consulting.

"They knew about this already," Kendall said Monday night. "They figure if they make two-thirds of what they were making then they'll still get by."

The New England Fishery Management Council recommended that, beginning in May 2013, quotas for the Atlantic sea scallop limited access fishery be reduced by 35 percent compared to 2012 and quotas for fishermen participating in the individual fishing quota program would be reduced by 32 percent, NOAA said in a news release.

Some fishermen would also see the number of trips they can take into special access areas reduced by half in 2013, and cuts in the amount of fish they are allowed to keep on each fishing trip, the NOAA release said.

Local scallopers are willing to accept the cuts because they accept that the younger specimens need time to mature, Kendall said.

Unlike groundfishing, where government science is often questioned by fishermen balking at reduced quotas, the scallop cuts are backed by the School for Marine Science and Technology at UMass Dartmouth.

SMAST's research showed a high number of small scallops in 2012 — the highest since 2001 — with the highest concentrations in the Mid-Atlantic. These scallops, if allowed to grow unharmed, will be large enough to harvest in two to three years, according to NOAA.

Scallopers will swallow the lowered quotas in the hope that the changes are temporary, Kendall said.

"Hopefully, it'll last a year or so before we get back to the numbers we had," he said.

NOAA also made changes to another set of quotas, raising the limits for common pool vessels significantly for many types of fish such as Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine cod and yellowtail flounder. Many quotas were doubled or tripled. The agency did, however, reduce catch limits on common pool vessels for pollock — which was unlimited — and white hake, which saws its quota reduced to a third of what it was. Pollock will be limited to 10,000 pounds per trip, according to a NOAA news release.

Kendall said he doesn't think there are many but didn't know the number of New Bedford fishing boats that are common pool vessels; he said he could not comment on how the changes might affect the local fleet.